Ronnie Platt, the former singer of Shooting Star and a Kansas mega fan, never imagined that one day he’d be fronting the famous rock band, known for hits like “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind.”
Platt stepped in after former Kansas frontman Steve Walsh retired in 2014 and has since enjoyed hundreds of performances with the band, which has upcoming shows at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio on Friday, Sept. 9 and Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks on Thursday, Sept. 15.
“Kansas fans can expect high energy, diverse music and a couple of hours of helping people forget their problems,” Platt said during a recent phone interview. “That’s what we like to bring.”
Platt first learned of Walsh’s retirement when the niece of former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung shot him a text message. She was a longtime friend who knew Platt was a Kansas fanatic. At first, he didn’t think much of it and figured a replacement was imminent. But, on a whim, he messaged Kansas guitarist Rich Williams about the gig on Facebook.
The next day, Williams replied and coordinated a call with the other remaining original member of Kansas, drummer Phil Ehart, to figure out a time they could meet. They didn’t need to see Platt audition, as they were familiar with his work and caught wind that he was a huge Kansas fan.
“The next morning, I’m back at work driving my 18-wheeler around the beautiful streets of Chicago, and I checked my email, and it was from Phil Ehart telling me I got the job,” he recalled. “To think that was eight years ago is mind-boggling.”
Platt grew up in Chicago, listening to his older sister’s records that included many of the rock bands climbing the charts in the mid-1970s. He also remembers listening to AM radio when stations weren’t as genre specific as they are today.
“You’d hear such a wide range of music on one radio station,” he said. “You’d hear a Led Zeppelin song followed by a song from the Jackson 5. It was really diverse.”
As Platt got older, he was introduced to progressive rock and he was smitten. One of those bands was Kansas, and he later got into bands like Yes, Genesis and Rush.
“I was so entangled in that progressive music, I missed the hair bands of the ’80s,” he said.
Since the age of 15, Platt has been in one or more bands at a time; from a Yes cover band to Shooting Star. However, he also held various day jobs and had to balance the life of a blue-collar worker and musician.
“I’ve lived a double life my entire life doing the day gig thing because I like to eat and pay my bills,” he said. “I’ve always made money making music, but there are times when that money is minimal, but you love what you do.”
He’s enjoying life now as a member of Kansas and the rock icon status the band has achieved thanks to a catalog that contains several hits, most notably 1976’s “Carry on Wayward Son.” It’s still a favorite in the setlist and has been widely used in films and television shows. It became the unofficial theme song for The CW’s dark fantasy series “Supernatural,” which ran for 15 seasons from 2005-2020. The track was used as a wrap-up for each season of the show and, in 2017, the band surprised fans by performing it live during a “Supernatural” panel at the San Diego Comic-Con.
“What amazes me was how they kept it secret that we were appearing there, and it was such a crazy atmosphere to do that ‘Supernatural’ convention,” he said.
As the band and “Supernatural” actors Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki waited backstage during that panel, Platt said they “geeked out” over each other’s work. He shared that Kansas was supposed to be featured in the finale of the series in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic had derailed those plans. They did finally get a chance to appear and play the song in a TV series earlier this year. It was a bit of a “Supernatural” reunion as Padalecki invited the band to guest star in an episode of his new show, “Walker,” which just so happened to be directed by Ackles.
“It was wild and a lot of fun,” Platt said. “They brought all these extras in, and I think some of them were genuinely excited to be part of the show, but also part of the Kansas performance.”
Platt has recorded two studio albums with the Kansas and said that working with the band in the studio is intense and one of the most challenging jobs he’s ever had, but the end result has been rewarding. The band’s most recent album, “The Absence of Presence,” dropped during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and while some felt it was bad timing, Platt said it was perfect.
“I think it was a positive thing to give our fans something when no one was touring and you were locked down at home,” he said.
As a Kansas mega fan, he understands all too well that most of the band’s fans listen carefully and critique what the band sounds like live and how they sound on the new albums. The ultimate compliment, he said, comes from the hardcore fans still being blown away by their music, as well as the new fans discovering the band through the latest additions to its catalog, like the 2020 single, “Throwing Mountains.”
“To get messages on Facebook and see comments on YouTube that say, ‘I heard ‘Throwing Mountains’ and I went back and listened to all the previous Kansas music and what a great band,’ that shows you how timeless this music is,” he said.
Kansas
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9
Where: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio
Tickets: $39-$69; Must be 21-or-older.
Information: fantasyspringsresort.com.
Also: 8 p.m. Sept. 15 at Bank of America Performing Arts Center, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Tickets start at $51 at Ticketmaster.com.
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